The current government overhauled the previous government’s WorkChoices legislation, which provided great flexibility to employers in managing their workforce. In its place, it introduced the Fair Work Act, which established a tribunal to mediate between employers and employees. The government has just released the results of an independent report that found, overall, the Fair Work Australia system was working “as intended”.
But business leaders aren’t happy. A recent survey of chief executives by Business Spectator found 82% thought the Fair Work Act had been bad for productivity, and 60% said their own company was worse off because of it. And the CEO Forum Group survey reported today found many executives were concerned about the industrial relations system in Australia delivering unsustainable wage increases that weren’t reflected in productivity gains for the business.
The Coalition was burnt by the unpopularity of WorkChoices in the 2007 election, and is avoiding making IR an election issue. But will the party push for changes if it gets into government? It’s anyone’s guess, but we recently spoke to Melbourne University industrial relations expert Peter Gahan, who said he thought the whole issue was too highly charged for even the Liberals to touch in the next few years … but that doesn’t mitigate the uncertainty.
4) The mining tax
Some businesses love the mining tax because the two-speed economy is making life hard. Others (small miners) don’t like paying it.
Miner Fortescue Metals Group has launched a High Court challenge to its constitutionality, and it’s the Coalition’s current policy to scrap it.
A lot of foreign investment in Australia is about mining. Love it or hate it, the mining tax puts off foreign investors from joint-ventures in the industry. Mining projects take years to come to complete, and it’s even harder to plan ahead when you don’t know if there’ll be a special tax on your industry or not.
5) Maternity leave
If current polling holds out, Tony Abbott will remain Coalition leader in the lead-up to the next Federal election. He has a radical plan for maternity leave (which not all in his party agrees with).
At the 2010 election, Abbott took a scheme to the electorate for 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for Australian women. Who would have paid? Big corporates. Abbott proposed a 1.5% tax on the profits of Australia’s largest 3200 companies to fund the $2.6 billion scheme.
There are possible societal and economic benefits to the policy, but it’s unlikely to make many leaders happy. They can add it to the other big taxes they may have to pay in coming years.
Myriam Robin is a reporter for SmartCompany and its sister site LeadingCompany. She has degrees in economics, international studies and journalism. She likes writing about businesses taking risks and doing new things.
